L-R Kevin Higgins, Dabo Swinney, Bobby Lamb, Fisher DeBerry, Mike Ayers, Art Baker

Former legendary Air Force head football coach Fisher Deberry hosted the South Carolina Coaches for Charity inaugural dinner Thursday night at the Embassy Suites in Columbia.  Deberry is the all-time winningest head football coach for the United States Air Force Academy.  He is originally from South Carolina, and has recently moved back to the state.

Fisher DeBerry

Deberry and his wife Lu Ann lead the Fisher Deberry Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the support and education of single parents and their children.  For this event, they have united with head coaches from around the state to raise money and awareness for each of their respective organizations.

The event was roughly from 6-10 pm, starting with a meet and greet, followed by dinner.  There was also a silent and live auction with various sports memorabilia up for grabs ranging from a George Rogers autographed helmet to a “Broadway Joe” Namath autographed Jets jersey, among others.  All proceeds were donated to the charities involved.  The evening concluded with each coach giving a speech about their respective teams and to raise awareness for their charities.

Dabo Swinney

The coaches involved were

• Dabo Swinney – Clemson -  Dabo’s All-In Team Foundation
• Steve Spurrier – USC – Gamecock FCA
• Mike Ayers – Wofford – FCA of Spartanburg
• Kevin Higgins – The Citadel – Hope for Haiti
• Bobby Lamb – Furman – Greenville FCA
• Buddy Pough – SC State – FCA of Orangeburg
• Pough was unable to appear at the dinner, and SC State was instead represented by Hall-of-Fame member Willie Jeffries.

Steve Spurrier

Various sponsors also participated in the dinner, including Founders Federal Credit Union, State Farm, Rod Walters, IPTAY, The Citadel Football Association, and Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated.  Former  coach Art Baker served as the Master of Ceremonies, and Burt Trembley promoted the event with the help of his team.

Tom Riginos

Clemson associate head baseball coach Tom Riginos has been offered the head coaching job at Winthrop.  Riginos said this afternoon that he is weighing whether or not to accept the Eagles offer. He could have a decision in the next couple of days.

Riginos is 42 years old and has been at Clemson for the past eight seasons.  He has been the Tigers recruiting coordinator for the past two years. Clemson’s recruiting classes have been ranked in the top 25 each of those two years.

Winthrop is searching for a replacement for Joe Hudak, who was fired after 19 seasons in the Eagles dugout.  Current USC associate head coach Chad Holbrook was also a candidate for the Eagles job until he pulled his name out of consideration last week.

Details on Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney’s new contract were released Wednesday by the University.

Swinney’s annual salary more than doubled from last season’s $800,000 to now stand at $1.75 million guaranteed for each of the next 5 seasons.  His first contract included incentives that would automatically boost his contract if the Tigers were to reach the ACC Championship Game.  This time around it will take an ACC Championship game victory for his contract to be altered.  His salary would reach close to $2 million if the Tigers win the ACC.

Clemson announced that the new contract will increase “to an amount not less than the average total compensation for the seven most highly” paid ACC football coaches if they win the title.  Swinney can accumulate other bonuses throughout the season though, earning $20,000 for a 10 win regular season, $30,000 for 11 wins, and $40,000 if the Tigers win 12.  The old contract gave bonuses for eight or nine win seasons, but the new one does not.  Swinney would also collect $37,500 for playing in the ACC title game, whereas he earned $75,000 in the old agreement.

Swinney’s assistant coaches also received raises this off-season, cumulatively earning an additional $495,000.  His assistants currently earn a combined $2.3 million.

Swinney led the Tigers to a 9-5 record during his first full year as Head Coach, winning their first Atlantic division title along the way.  The Tigers lost to rival Georgia Tech 39-34 in the ACC championship game, but went on to defeat Kentucky 21-13 in the Music City Bowl, their first bowl victory since 2005.  Clemson’s 2010 season starts September 4 against North Texas at Death Valley.

Clemson seniors DeAndre McDaniel, Jarvis Jenkins and Chris Hairston have all been named first-team preseason All-ACC by the media covering last weekend’s ACC Football Kickoff in Greensboro, NC. The team was announced on Wednesday.

McDaniel had 48 votes on the 52 ballots that were cast, more than any other player, offense or defense. The senior from Tallahassee, FL, had eight interceptions and 102 tackles last year, the only player in the nation with at least eight interceptions and 100 tackles. He was first-team All-American as a junior by the Football Writers Association and a first-team All-ACC performer at safety.

Jenkins will join McDaniel on Clemson’s defense this year. The native of Clemson was an honorable mention All-ACC pick last year when he had 69 tackles, more than any other Clemson defensive lineman. He was fifth on the team in tackles overall and his 11 tackles for loss ranked second behind Ricky Sapp.

Hairston was a second-team All-ACC selection as an offensive tackle last year when he helped create holes for Clemson’s highest scoring team in history on a total points basis (436). He started 12 of the 14 games last year and Clemson had a 9-3 record in those games. The native of Winston-Salem, NC had seven knockdown blocks and an 85 percent grade in Clemson’s 40-37 overtime win at Miami last year. He has started in each of Clemson’s last three bowl games

Kyle Parker is happy to be back

Kyle Parker met with reporters today to make his first public comments since releasing a statement last week announcing his plans to return to Clemson for another season of football. 

Parker surprised a lot of people when he turned down a reported 2.4 million dollar signing bonus from the Rockies to return to the gridiron.

Kyle Parker breaks down his decision

Parker 7-27

Parker said today that he is still hopeful he can work out a deal to join the Rockies in the spring.  He made it clear there is no scenario or dollar amount that will make him renege on his commitment to play football this fall.   The Rockies have until August 16^th to sign Parker.

Right now there the two sides are not close to a deal and negotiations are expected last until at or near that August deadline.  If something isn’t worked out by the deadline Parker would be eligible to rejoin the Clemson baseball team this fall, although that scenario is considered highly unlikely.

Parker is back on the Clemson campus and started working out with the football team Monday.  He said the time off gave his body a chance to rest and that he is in good shape and ready for the start of football practice next month.

Dabo Swinney on Kyle Parker’s future in football and baseball

swinney_on_parker[1]

Parker is a redshirt sophomore and will be eligible for the NFL draft this fall.  Parker is considered undersized by NFL quarterback standards; although the size notion has been downplayed a lately with the undersized Drew Brees emerging as one of the top quarterbacks. 

This past April Swinney said that scouts at the NFL combine told him, in terms of arm strength, Parker would have been one of the top quarterback’s in this past year’s draft.  By playing another season Swinney said Parker will give NFL scouts another year of film to review for when and if he decides he wants to give pro football a try. 

The thinking is now Parker has a viable second option just in case he can’t hit a major league curve ball.   That is a pretty good insurance plan.

**Note: Kyle Parker will meet with the media today in Clemson.  We will have his audio comments posted here later this afternoon.**

Dabo Swinney shares his exuberance for his team at Media Days

Clemson key pre-season notes:

• 15 starters return for the Tigers, 7 on offense and 6 on defense
• The Tigers must replace three major weapons in CJ Spiller, Jacoby Ford and Michael Palmer
• QB Kyle Parker returns after passing for 2661 yards and 20 touchdowns last season
• PK Richard Jackson booted 20 field goals last season, 2nd most in the league
• All American safety DeAndre McDaniel leads the defense

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney

dabo swinney

Clemson was picked second in the ACC Atlantic division by the league’s media today.  Florida State was picked first.  The Seminoles received 78 first place votes.  The Tigers received 16.  Boston College was third in the poll, N.C. State was fourth, Wake Forest was fifth and Maryland was sixth.

Virginia Tech was picked to win the Coastal Division.  Miami was picked second, then it was Georgia Tech third, North Carolina fourth, Duke fifth and Virginia sixth.

The Hokies were also the pick to win the overall ACC title.  They received 50 votes, 24 more than Florida State.

Meanwhile, Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder was selected as the preseason player of the year.  Ponder picked up 45 votes for the honor.  Clemson’s Kyle Parker finished seventh in the voting.

The ACC Football Kickoff is underway in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Today is going to be a busy day at the Grandover Resort as all twelve coaches will make the rounds and speak with the media.  Also today the preseason all-conference team and preseason media poll will be released.

Sunday players were made available to the media.  Clemson was represented by defensive back DeAndre McDaniel and offensive lineman Chris Hairston. You can hear their comments below.

McDaniel and Hairston meet with media at ACC Football Kickoff

CU players

We will have everything covered for you today right here at SportsTalkSC.com and on Twitter @ SportsTalkSC.

Ben Martin

Former Clemson All-American Ben Martin took just two professional events to gain his first victory. The recent Clemson graduate won the E-Golf tour’s Forest Oaks Classic at Forest Oaks Country Club in High Point, NC on Saturday after a playoff with Brent Munson.

Martin birdied three of the last four holes on Saturday to finish with a 67 and 20 under par 268 for the four days. He was tied with Munson, a former All-American at North Alabama was the Division II National Player of the Year. Martin then won the playoff on the second hole.

Martin finished with rounds of 65-69-67-67 for his 268 total and won $34,900. He finished 11th in his first E-Golf Professional event last week.